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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

$400,000 EACH FOR 2 GAMES

EVER wondered how much Lakers star Kobe Bryant, reigning MVP Derrick Rose of the Bulls and Kevin Durant of the Thunder made in their two-game swing recently at the Araneta Coliseum against a selection of PBA stars and Smart-Gilas Pilipinas?A whopping $400,000 each, according to Sam Amick of SI.com, the official website of the Sports Illustrated magazine, and the story was later picked up by Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports. That translates to P16,888,000 per player, based on the current exchange rate of P42.22 to the dollar.That is hardly chump change, especially if ranged against the maximum monthly take-home pay of P350,000 by PBA stars who battled Bryant and Co. last Saturday.In the SI.Com story, Amick said: "Don’t let this news take you over as some sort of greedy run. The stars spiraled their way toward Manila to play basketball without any sort of insurance, and though the pay isn’t commensurate with the services provided, this was still a well-earned engagement."The three, along with Chris Paul of New Orleans, Tyreke Evans of Sacramento, James Harden of Oklahoma, JaVale McGee of Washington, Derrick Williams of Minnesota and Derek Fisher of the Lakers, were brought here by the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation.The SI and Yahoo! Sports reports, however, were denied by TNT coach Chot Reyes, the vice president of the Foundation, who claimed the visitors were paid much less."That’s not true, that amount was too much," Reyes told Malaya Business Insight. "Mas maliit sa amount na nabanggit. And we didn’t pay all players equal amount. Siyempre, may mataas at may mababa."Reyes admitted Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Lakers, a one-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP, received more than Rose, Durant and the rest.A source close to the MVP group of companies estimated Bryant must have received no less than $300,000, while Durant and Rose got $250,000 each. The rest, the same source said, received $150,000 to $200,000 each.Reyes said that while Pangilinan spent a fortune in bringing the stars here, it was worth it since the recent visit set the stage for a series of big projects involving the Foundation and the NBA.Dwyer said the take-home pay of Bryant and Co. "is a nice tax-free gift that will help stave off the potential debt-collectors should the current NBA lockout cost them a year’s salary. Though the combined millions that were sent the way of the traveling NBA stars no doubt put last weekend’s event in the red, the payoff was apparently worth it for all involved."Bryant stands to make more than $25 million in the first year of his three-year contract extension with the Lakers while Durant should earn more than $13 million in the first year of his five-year contract extension with the Thunder.Rose is in the third year of his four-year rookie contract with the Bulls and is set to make $7 million this year, which translates to $85,000 per game.Source: Eddie G. Alinea, Malaya Business Insight /PBA ADDICTS